Power Rangers Xtreme: The Reign of Terror Part 1
by Wildfire K
Summary: The Empire of Darkness threatens the earth... 6 former Rangers embark on a quest for power and to stop the sadistic new menace...


Disclaimer: The Power Rangers and its characters are owned by Saban Entertainment, not me.  
  
Credits: the song "Dreams," is by Van Halen, and will be played at the end of part III. It is the song which was played at the end of the first Power Rangers movie.   
  
***  
  
Power Rangers X-treme  
"The Reign of Terror Part I"  
by Wildfire K  
  
***  
Introduction...  
  
In the heart of every individual lies the undesirable emotion known as fear. Fear is what keeps young children awake a night. Fear is what men of war experience once they lie beaten at the hands of their adversaries. Fear is a feeling some believers endure once they are exposed to the mythological stories of the Empire of Darkness...   
  
...In distant solar systems located many light years away from our own, the myths of the Empire of Darkness are a reality. The Dark Emperor's Reign of Terror is a presence felt day and night for the countless amount of galaxies conquered by this ruthless kingdom...  
  
...However, the universe is a massive place. It is an infinite area in which word does not pass easily from one species to another. It is a place so massive and so spectacular that the amount of questions regarding its existence well exceed the knowledge mankind has in its educational forms...  
  
...But for the Empire of Darkness, the universe is their slaughterhouse. It is the domain in which they dominate and a place in which they are familiar with every square inch...  
  
...Hard to believe...?  
  
...Well...  
  
...Imagine...  
  
...Recall a dark past in the history of humankind. Recite the days when powerful monarchs of the ancient world conquered massive areas, expanding their empires at the expense of human lives. Remember the days of ruthless conquerers such as Alexander the Great, Ghenghis Khan, or Napoleon...  
  
...Imagine...  
  
...Imagine the power and authority that these leaders possessed on Earth, and multiply those thoughts of terror, and parallel them to the magnitude of a universal scale, and imagine the terrors that the Empire of Darkness is capable of accomplishing...  
  
...Many who are isolated from its terror are unaware of the fact that the Empire of Darkness has captured and now rule a vast majority of the universe. What's at hand is an evil so ancient, one that existed long before the age of mankind, before intelligent life even existed on foreign star systems...   
  
...To this day the Reign of Terror still spreads like wildfire...  
  
...On the small green planet known as Earth, the legend of the Empire of Darkness is barely a myth. Only a select few even regard its possible existence, because the Earth is among those planets who are isolated from life forms other than its own and its knowledge regarding the vile Empire's existence is greatly limited. The fear of the ultimate threat, that is, the Reign of Terror brought about by Seth Magnus, who is also referred to as Dark Emperor, is but a spec of dust in the belief system of humankind. Even more heavily disregarded are the stories of the Four Horsemen who carry out the duties of the Dark Emperor, one of which is a four-arm beast who is so vicious that it is has been told to be powerful enough to wipe out an entire planet on its own, and another of which is a sorcerer, one so maniacal yet so wise that he can alter weather systems controlled by nature... and two more deciples of which are scarcely known of. Also at the disposal of the twisted Dark Emperor are ranks of horrifying troops known as Death Knights, a race undead bloodlusting warriors who are mass produced by the thousands...  
  
...The universe... a place so large, and whose living creatures are located so far apart from one another. However, the Empire of Darkness' immense fleets travel through wormholes, controlling the space-time continuum and conquering civilizations by the hundreds. The myth of the Empire of Darkness is one that must be traced back to the beginning of time, long before intelligent life on Earth ever existed. Since that time, Seth Magnus' Reign of Terror has spread forth from his own unknown and still uncharted planet, and subsequently this reign has extended outwards like an explosion whose never-ending radius can destroy anything around it. The Dark Emperor has lived for billions of years, and has conquered a countless amount of galaxies, yet his presence is not acknowledged on the planet which is up and coming on his agenda... a planet whose mortal beings are vulnerable to the coming of the Reign of Terror... the planet known as Earth.  
  
...Parallel to the stories of the Empire of Darkness is an even less acknowledged tale of a wise wizard who existed at a time when the Ancient Greeks were the dominant race on Earth. Legends mention the wizard as being the first individual on Earth to unravel the existence of the Empire of Darkness, and feared the day Earth would become conquered. The stories sparsely mention the wizard's creation of an energy source which contains the power of the mighty Greek Gods, a power he hoped would be capable of protecting the Earth from danger. He called them Extreme Powers.  
  
... Long ago, with his mobilized space base, the Dark Sun, Seth Magnus and his army made their way to Titanica, a planet inhabited by a race of titans...  
  
...Fearing for their lives, ambassadors from Titanica journeyed to Earth, in search of the wise wizard who created the Extreme Powers for the purpose of protection. Sensing their honorable and noble motives, the great wizard granted the power to the ambassadors, who brought them back to Titanica. The people of Titanica then selected the 5 most powerful warriors on their planet, who were specifically bred for the purpose of war, as the chosen ones to control the Extreme Powers. This group of warriors, named after the Greek Gods because of the abilities they possessed and whose power they were about to assume, fought valiantly in defense of their planet. However, their power was not enough to stop the dreaded empire, and thus, Titanica was taken over by Seth Magnus and his villainous army. The group of heroes were no match for the billions of Death Knights invading their planet. The 5 chosen warriors were viciously murdered in the battle, and their spirits now dwell in a Lost Realm known as the Island of Fallen Warriors, along with the long lost Extreme Powers...  
  
...Nevertheless, the Empire of Darkness' Reign of Terror, which has been spreading for eons, is now approaching Earth, yet its vulnerable inhabitants are unaware of the carnage they are about to endure...  
  
***  
Present day, Southern California Beach...  
  
It was an active day at the beach. The clear blue skies and the warmth of the sun made the scenery an ideal Friday afternoon, with teenagers playing volleyball near the shoreline and young children building sand castles. A beautiful Australian lifeguard calmly walks along the shoreline, wearing her red lifeguard bathing suit and carrying a small red floatation device. Katherine Hillard inspects the activity at the beach carefully before returning to her lifeguard tower where she can more accurately scrutinize the swimmers. Each lifeguard was designated to one area of the beach, and each lifeguard tower was an elevated one-room house-like structure in which a lifeguard could store his/her belongings for the day. Since it was several feet above ground level, one could more easily monitor the activity along the shoreline. Kat was once afraid of the water, but after conquering her fear she revitalized her former swimming skills, and attended a lifeguard institute a few miles upstate for two years before becoming a professional. She had only been working at Southern California Beach for six months, but she was involved in an occupation which peaked her interests.   
  
"Looks like an easy day for us," Katherine smiled at a male lifeguard who was passing by her tower, as Kat looked on from her elevated position. It had been a relatively quiet day in terms of rescuing victims from drowning. However, Kat kept a close eye on a 7-year-old girl who was venturing off into deep water without the aid of a parent. "Looks like I spoke too soon," Kat muttered jokingly to herself as she picked up a pair of binoculars to observe the little girl's actions. Katherine watched as the little girl distanced herself from the shoreline, but soon grew tired and had trouble swimming back to shore. It wasn't long afterwards that the little girl dipped beneath water level, not resurfacing.   
  
Immediately, Kat dropped her binoculars, snatched her floatation device which she had left on her desk and rushed out towards the shoreline.   
  
"Hey babe, what's the rush?" bickered a male teenager who often hung out at the beach. He had been flirting with every female lifeguard since the beach had opened.  
  
"Not, now, Bobby!" Katherine ran into the shallow water off the coastline until it was deep enough for her to dive.   
  
On the shoreline, word began to stir that a little girl had been drowning and that the lifeguard was off to save her. As a result, several bystanders gathered in a large crowd and watched as Katherine Hillard dove beneath the surface of the water and later resurfacing with the little girl in one arm. A few cheers broke out on the shoreline as Kat brought the girl back to the beach. She carried the girl and placed her back-first onto the warm sand, and knelt down beside her.   
  
"Ashley, help me!" she called to her fellow worker.  
  
"I'm coming!" Ashley Hammond responded as she brushed sand off of her red lifeguard bathing suit and ran over to help Katherine. Ashley knelt down beside Kat, and began pumping the little girl's chest. "I'll do the count. You know the drill."  
  
"Right," Katherine answered as she placed her hands behind the little girl's neck.  
  
"One, two, three, breathe!" Ashley instructed as she pumped her palms into the little girl's chest. Immediately, Katherine proceeded in giving the little girl mouth-to-mouth respiration. Soon, the little girl began coughing and spitting out water, lucky to be alive as a middle-aged male pushed through the crowd.   
  
The middle aged man helped the little girl to her feet: "I can't thank you enough," he said to Katherine. The man appeared to be the little girl's father.  
  
"All in the line of work," Katherine smiled, brushing her wet, long blonde hair behind her neck as the man carried his daughter off.   
  
"Well, well, well. Not too shabby," the flirtatious Bobby commented. "David Hasselhoff would be proud." The two girls laughed.  
  
"You're too much, Bobby," Ashley smiled as she handed Katherine a towel. The two girls then headed off towards the lifeguard center, the headquarters for monitoring activity at Southern California Beach. They were greeted by the beach's head lifeguard, Ronan Chambers, as they entered the facility.   
  
"Word has it you're quite the hero," the head lifeguard commented. The girl Kat had rescued was being aided by a nurse in a room at the end of the hall.   
  
"Just doing my job," Katherine replied.   
  
"That's what I like hearing," Ronan Chambers said as he grabbed some papers from the front desk. "Listen girls, those new recruits from the lifeguard school are coming in today."   
  
"Good," Katherine complimented. "We've been needing more lifeguards since this place has become so popular.   
  
"My thoughts exactly," Ronan said. "By the way, I want these new recruits to get a good feel of what they're going to be up against," he explained. "I'm going to be showing some of them around myself in an orientation, and I'm leaving a few of them with Joey and a few others. I'll need the two of you to do the same with one of the new lifeguards. She should be arriving any moment now. Just let them familiarize themselves with their surroundings. Will that be alright?"   
  
"Sure thing," Ashley was always willing to help. Moments later, a familiar face entered the room from the back entrance.  
  
"Over here!" Ronan shouted across the hall.   
  
Karone walked right past the head lifeguard to greet her former companion: "Ashley?"   
  
"Karone?" Ashley was puzzled to see a familiar face wandering around the area.   
  
"You've met?" the head lifeguard asked.  
  
"Yeah, we've known each other for years," Ashley informed.   
  
"Well, I see the new recruits should fit in just perfectly," Ronan was pleased with the situation. "I'll be off now."   
  
"You're one of the new recruits?" Ashley asked.   
  
"Yeah," Karone said. "I never knew you worked here," Karone observed that Ashley was wearing the traditional red lifeguard bathing suit.   
  
"I've been here for about six months. Never knew you were such a good swimmer. Welcome to Southern California Beach," Ashley smiled. "This is Katherine, one of my co-workers, probably the best lifeguard around here," she then looked around and lowered her voice. "You could take some tips from her. She was a former Pink Ranger too," she smiled.  
  
Karone stepped forward and shook hands with Katherine, which later turned into a friendly hug: "Nice to meet you, Kat."   
  
"You too. Never knew you wanted to be a lifeguard. What got your interests going?" Kat suddenly remembered seeing the familiar face, recognizing the woman formerly known as Astronema.  
  
"Well," Karone began, "you may or may not know I spent a lot of time as Astronema," she paused to allow Kat time to recite what she had seen on a news telecast regarding an attack a couple of years ago. "When I came to Earth, I realized the only skill I had was the ability to swim, something I did as a little girl."   
  
"Well, it's nice to have you on board," Kat said. "C'mon, we'll show you around."   
  
***  
Western Technical Institute, two miles north of Southern California Beach...  
  
"But Dr. Lansberg," Billy Cranston raised his hand. "What if the legends are true, and the myth does exist?"   
  
"I highly doubt that, Billy," his professor responded. "The whole tale about the Empire of Darkness seems really blown out of proportion. It just wouldn't make sense that such a race exists which has been jumping from galaxy to galaxy over the course of billions of years and will one day expand their kingdom to Earth and take us over. I hate to break it to you, but this so-called 'Reign of Terror' idea is just hard to believe."   
  
"But how can we be sure?" Billy persisted. He wasn't shy about debating issues with his professor. After all, he was in a second year classical studies course, where only thirty students were enrolled. It was one of few humanities courses offered at the technical institute.   
  
"Billy," his professor didn't want to give in. "Many myths are told. They are all part of the human belief system, but none of them are ever real. Consider the Ancient Greeks who believed in the Gods of Mount Olympus. When someone went up there one day, they found out there was really nothing up there. And the Ancient Egyptians, they made sacrifices to their sun god because they believed that he'd stop growing their crops. Little did they know that nature is nature and no supernatural sun god actually exists. What I'm trying to say is this: the Empire of Darkness is something we have only begun to research, and we won't spend too much time on it. The information about it is sparse and of little concern to us when compared to the rest of the course content. There's only one textbook available to us right now, and it's in the library, but it's a picture book that's so basic that a fifth grader could read it. So really, they're just for our philosophical discussions. They can't possibly exist. Do you understand?"   
  
"The temple of Ninjor was a myth, but that turned out to be real," Billy muttered under his breath.   
  
"What was that, Billy?" his professor couldn't hear him. "You'll have to speak up."  
  
"Oh, nothing," Billy quickly answered. "I mean... yes, I understand." The final bell rang, signifying the end of class. What his professor was lecturing about seemed to make sense, but with his encounters in the past with villains, Billy could not be sure. He did not want to believe that there was an evil that existed that was so sinister it could wipe out the entire universe. After all, he was enjoying his life. He was in his sophomore year at WTI, but that was only due to the fact that he spent a year in Aquitar before deciding to return home to continue his studies. Otherwise, he would have been a junior. Then again, his schedule was lighter than most since he had taken so many advance credit courses during his high school years together with summer school courses. Thus, his hours were somewhat shorter than the average student. He was the only one among his friends that was still studying. Kat spent a year at the same institute as Billy before she began her two year lifeguard training, where she met up with Ashley. Tommy founded a dojo on the campus of WTI, and Jason became a police officer. Despite the fact that school was out of session for the day, Billy couldn't keep his mind from dwelling about the Empire of Darkness. He went to the library to find the book his professor had spoken about.   
  
***  
  
When he was off duty, Jason left the police station and picked up Billy from Western Technical Institute and they headed over to the beach to meet up with their friends. Tommy was already there. They were surprised to see a new face at their table when they entered the outdoor food court. "Hey guys," Jason greeted.  
  
"Hey, Billy. Hey Jason," Katherine pulled up two seats for them. "I'd like you guys to meet Karone, one of the new recruited lifeguards here."   
  
"Nice to meet you," Karone stood up and shook Jason's hand, meeting him with a seductive gaze.   
  
Jason appeared to be captivated, resulting in a hesitant answer as he stared straight in Karone's gorgeous eyes: "Yea... yeah, you too," he sat down.   
  
"She's a former Power Ranger too," Ashley announced. "So don't worry, you can share your secrets with her."   
  
"That's great to hear," Tommy said before diverting his attention to the strange book Billy was carrying. "Oh, I almost forgot something," he said, pulling out a small brochure of some sort. "There's gonna be a huge fireworks show back in Angel Grove tomorrow night. It's only a couple of bucks, and it'll take place right next to the docks. I say we go for it."  
  
"Sounds good to me," Katherine said. "I guess we're all going then?" The rest of the crowd nodded.  
  
"Great," Tommy said before his attention was caught by what Billy had in his hands. "Hey Billy, what's with that book you're holding?" Billy laid the book down onto the table for the others to see. "Empire of Darkness: too Fearful to be True," Tommy read the title out loud.   
  
"It's for my classical studies class," Billy said. "It's kinda got me spooked. Listen, we're all former Rangers, so I think you guys will understand me here," he lowered the volume of his voice. I need to talk to you guys about this."   
  
The smile on Karone's face faded as she stared at the book, at a loss for words, looking shocked at the words which were jumping out from the cover. She appeared to be stunned and worried: "Um, excuse me. I... I need to use the ladies' room," she said. She got up and left in a hurry.   
  
***  
Outer Space...  
  
A ripple in the space-time continuum caused a wormhole to open up in the black skies of space. A large satellite came shooting out of the wormhole, and settled itself several thousand feet above the earth, orbiting the green planet. It wasn't too large, only about the size of a large mansion, and had a shape similar to Terra Venture, although much smaller, and without the city at the top. All actions took place on the inside of the satellite. "Ai yi yi yi yi!" echoed the voice of Alpha 5. "Oooooooo, I was hoping this wouldn't happen. How I wish Zordon were here to tell me what to do." Alpha was hurrying back and forth throughout the main control room and preparing the monitors for something important.  
  
***  
Elsewhere in Space...  
  
Yet another planet was under siege by the Empire of Darkness as it made its way towards Earth. This time it was Aquitar, the closest planet to Earth in which intelligent life existed.   
  
The Dark Sun, a large, mobilized asteroid shaped base touched down on one of Aquitar's moons. The mere aura of the Dark Sun was one of extreme terror. However, those who have seen it have only viewed it from the outside. Those unfortunate individuals shudder at the sight of the missile launchers, cannon and laser turrets, and the sight of an endless amount of Death Knights patrolling the six levels of the base. But within the walls of the Dark Sun was where the true horrors lay. The entire city-sized base of operations for the Empire of Darkness was a place which was almost completely engulfed in the color black. Torches on the walls of the stone buildings dimly lit the horrifying place. The sound of dying men screaming and the moaning sound of ghosts echoed constantly throughout the Dark Sun. It was this sound, when heard from the outside, which caused the goosebumps and chills up the average person's spine. It was a creepy and petrifying place, like a haunted house from a horror movie, and its aura generated fear into the hearts of many. It had a reputation for being the most dangerous place in the universe, and all who have ever attempted to oppose it have endured the most traumatizing deaths among any souls in the universe.   
  
Seth Magnus sat in the main room of his space base. His purpose was clear, total domination of every solar system. He sat at his throne in his domain on the top floor. He was a humanoid shaped individual (two arms, two legs, etc.) who was dressed in black, with a dark colored helmet with horns, and a red cape. He had never shown his face, and always hid behind his headgear. His wizard, the Dark Sorcerer, one of Magnus' Four Horsemen, stood to the left of him, an ancient humanoid creature who wore a black cloak with a hood over his head. His skin was old and wrinkly, and his face was as pale as snow. He was a hideous creature, unable to stand straight, with bleach white eyes that contained no pupils. His evil magic was among the main factors contributing to the domination of the Empire.   
  
Explosions echoed from outside the planet of Aquitar, and from a distance one could view the hideous menace that was occurring: fleets upon fleets of small starships surrounded the entire planet. Space camps were set up outside Aquitar. A siege was being laid. It was difficult to imagine, but the billions of years the Dark Emperor spent conquering star systems allowed for his race to grow and flourish, thus resulting in the billions upon billions of soldiers at his disposal. The doors to the main chamber of the Dark Sun opened, and a towering figure entered the room.   
  
"The high council of the planet has agreed to surrender," the menacing figure reported. He was about seven and a half feet tall, a large creature with four long and muscular arms, two on each side, a scaly, reptilian hide, a large pair of wings which could span ten feet in length, and a round shaped head with a long mouth and small, red eyes. He wore a battle helmet much like his emperor, with two horns coming out from the top although he was not dressed the same way, and exposed his green reptilian skin... a monster from a horror movie.   
  
"Well done, Goliath," the Dark Emperor, Seth Magnus said to the winged four arm creature, who was another one of his Four Horsemen. "See to it that the Death Knights slaughter the Aquitian Power Rangers, and begin releasing the harvesters to drain the fresh water supply on the planet, thus converting it into raw energy for the Dark Sun."   
  
"Collect all corpses as well," the Dark Sorcerer hissed to the large monster. "The piles of bones, when revamped, will be turned into Death Knights once I get to work on them."   
  
"As you wish," the voice of Goliath boomed throughout the hollow room. He turned around and left to pursue his duties.  
  
On the planet, hordes of Death Knights pursued the Alien Rangers. Delphine swam deep down into the water, approximately 50 feet below the surface, being chased by a Death Knight who rode on a dark black horse. The rider swung his sword at her, but she moved out of the way, and kicked the Death Knight in the head. A load of bubbles of water blew out of the Knights' mouth as Delphine hand chopped him in the back, but the rider's mount shot it's hind legs backwards, striking Delphine in the abdomen, and knocking her away. The Death Knights struggled to move underwater, as they were not as familiar with the surroundings as the Alien Rangers were, and thus had a hard time swimming through, for they did not have the quickness of the Aquitians while below surface. Then again, they certainly had the strength. The other Alien Rangers took on several other Death Knights, but were having trouble, as their much bigger adversaries pummeled them with their large weapons. Soon, the exhausted Alien Rangers resurfaced onto shore, where legions of Death Knights were waiting, and were soon upon the tired Aquitian Rangers. It wouldn't be long before they met their demise.   
  
***  
  
"Sounds freaky, just as you're saying, Billy," Tommy said as Billy finished explaining. "I mean, we've seen evil, but this thing is just way stronger than that. But there's really nothing we can do about it right now."   
  
"Yeah, but," Billy paused before continuing. "But shouldn't we at least consider this?"  
  
"Listen, Billy," Kat turned to face him. "We're not saying you're wrong. We're just saying that there's no way for us to find out about this thing. We shouldn't be worrying about something we hardly know about."   
  
"Can't hurt to ignore it, at least for now," added Ashley.   
  
"Hmm..." Billy began to question his own opinions. "Yeah, I guess you guys are right. I'm just being paranoid."   
  
"Just take it easy, Billy," Kat put one arm around him, then yanked his book away with the other. "Now, since we're all off work for now, let's go play some volleyball."   
  
"Good idea," Karone said as she returned to the table.   
  
"Hey, just in time," Jason smiled, not worrying as to where the beautiful girl he had just met had been. He just knew he was happy to see her again.  
  
***  
Hours later...  
  
Alpha, a busy bee from all the work he had been doing, continued tweaking the computer systems around him in the satellite. Word came over one of his receivers that Aquitar had now been conquered. "Yikes!" Alpha shrieked to himself. "The next closest planet is Earth. They'll be here before long," Alpha 5 said to himself, fully aware that it was the only planet in the surrounding solar system which contained life. "Ai yi yi, I'd better shut down the generators and put this thing on invisible mode," he said, pushing a few buttons and camouflaging the satellite so that it wouldn't be visible when the massive fleet came. From the signals on his computer, he could tell that the Empire of Darkness was fast approaching, and that their infinite fleet of ships would soon be upon Earth. "Oooooo, I'd better finish soon!" he squeaked to himself.   
  
However, it was only a matter of time before the fleet of starships entered the solar system and were closing in on Earth. Alpha knew he wouldn't be able to finish on time, and watched as the first few ships touched down on Earth. There was nothing he could do now about the civilians which would die first, but he knew that the endless fleet would need more time to set up a complete siege around Earth. However, he found it strange that some of the ships at the rear of the fleet appeared to be backing away.  
  
***  
  
"The attack on Aquitar drained a good portion of our power supply," the Dark Sorcerer said to his Emperor.   
  
"No matter," Seth Magnus was not moved by the unfortunate circumstance. "Send a good portion of our fleet back to recharge their powers."  
  
"That's over half the fleet," the Dark Sorcerer persisted. "We won't be able to set up a siege around Earth if we do that."   
  
"Like I said," the Dark Emperor replied, "it doesn't matter. We'll take the forces we have now, and we have plenty of them, and begin our assault on Earth. We'll take our time. Save the siege for another day. Those humans are lucky this isn't the day of their demise. Let the rest of the fleet go back and recharge their fuel. When they return, then we'll be able to launch our full scale assault. The downfall of Earth is inevitable anyway. You just do your job, and terrorize those humans."   
  
"With pleasure," the Dark Sorcerer seemed redeemed. "I'll start by darkening their sunny skies," he let out a wicked laugh.   
  
***  
  
"Alright guys, let's call it a day," Tommy said to his friends, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "I'm beat."   
  
"Let's go hang out at the community center," Jason suggested. The community center was the building right next to the lifeguard headquarters.   
  
Karone walked next to Jason as they made their way toward the main buildings around the beach. "You were really good," Karone commented about Jason's volleyball skills.   
  
"Thanks," Jason expressed a flirtatious smile. "Not so bad yourself."   
  
However, before the former rangers could make their way into the community center, the sound of thunder boomed in the distance, a crackling noise so loud it caused everyone at the beach to divert their attention from what they were doing. Suddenly, the white clouds above formed into dark, towering storm clouds, and the sky faded from blue to black within seconds. The thunder continued echoing in the distance. Believing it was nothing more than a storm, Kat, Ashley, Karone, and a few other lifeguards began directing the swimmers back towards the shoreline. The groups of people at the beach rushed out and grabbed their belongings, some heading home, others heading towards the Aquatic/lifeguard center.   
  
"All swimmers, return to the shore!" the head lifeguard's voice came through the towering speakers at the center of the beach.   
  
"What the heck's goin' on?" Jason asked out loud, although the young police officer knew there would be no answer. The group of former rangers watched as the skies darkened almost to a pitch black, with streaks of lightning rippling through the skies in the distance, as the echoing of booming thunder continued. The speed of the wind began to pick up, thus causing the former rangers to take cover behind the food court area.   
  
The reception on the television stations faded into static. The only monitors around were the ones at the food court, where the rangers were, and inside the Aquatic and community centers. Suddenly, the television screens flickered into the image of the dark skies, showing the scene of lightning streaking from above the black clouds in the distance. The weather was in an unimaginably horrible state.   
  
Moments later, a dark, hissing voice echoed from every technical communication system around, from the television sets, from the radios, and from the towering speaker at the center of the beach: "Are you SCARED!?" the hideous voice began. A few children could be heard crying as they ran inside with their parents. Suddenly, a ripple of thunder so loud and near deafening came crashing down so loudly in the mountains that it caused hundreds of screams across the beach. "SILENCE!!!" the vicious voice screeched, causing every individual to drop what they were doing and listen.   
  
Somehow, Billy knew that the beach wasn't the only place that was being terrorized by this supernatural force, and that all the communication systems across the globe were facing the same state of terror. His eerie feeling was confirmed by the proceeding of the evil voice's speech: "Citizens of Earth... your demise is near. I, the Dark Emperor am here to put an end to your miserable existence!" There was a short pause, and as another flash of lightning streaked in the dark skies, eerie music began playing through the communication systems, a tune which resembled the ancient music form of Gregorian chant, although there was an eerie tone in the lyrics. Accompanying the intimidating tune was the sound of screaming, dying men in the background, with the sound of ghosts whining as well as the irritating screech of evil laughter. Children at the beach began screaming louder, and Kat felt herself snuggling up against Tommy's arm. The former rangers crowded together, feeling as though this whole scene was just the setup for some bigger, more traumatizing event.   
  
Soon, the evil voice came through the sound systems once more, this time uttering his words of discouragement with a slower, more bitter tone:   
  
"Witness the carnage...  
experience the wrath...  
face the danger...  
endure the pain...  
  
feel the evil aura surrounding you now...  
let those frightful chills run down your spines, and feel your hearts beat faster...  
understand the wicked force you are about to encounter...  
have you ever faced an evil... an evil that was so wicked, so twisted, so maniacally insane that it could make you scream to your deaths...?   
  
Well... I am that evil force...  
I am that that evil of whom you hate...  
I am that monster in the closet that makes your children cry...  
I am the living incarnation of fear that exists in your nightmares...  
I am the vampire who drinks your blood...  
I am the howling werewolf that keeps you awake at night...  
I am your greatest fear...  
I am your apocalypse...  
I am the Dark Emperor...  
I am Seth Magnus...  
  
evil is what evil does...   
joy and happiness will soon fade away...  
and soon, only the strong will survive...  
the ultimate evil is here...  
  
for those pitiful souls on Earth... the Reign of Terror begins..."  
  
As the terrified humans cower in the main buildings of Southern California Beach, the rippling sound of thunder suddenly comes to a halt. Nevertheless, the skies are still dark, filled with towering black anvil headed clouds. Soon, streaks of light crash down onto the shallow waters, leaving behind a dozen mounds of black mass. Soon, the mounds of black stand to their full heights, revealing themselves as the dreaded Death Knights who have already terrorized half the universe. The Death Knights emerge from beneath their dark mantles, showing their hideous appearances: each one resembled the appearance of a hulking knight, each over 6 feet tall, and appearing to weigh close to 250 pounds. A Death Knight's face is a blackened skull covered with rotting flesh, and has two tiny, glowing red eyes. Each Death Knight wore a large suit of charred black armor and a helmet with a trio of horns coming out from the top.   
  
"What... what are those... things?" Ashley said as she hid behind Jason and Billy.   
  
Just as Ashley uttered her question, the book which Billy had left on a table at the food court was carried off by the wind, landing right in front of the former Rangers. The wind pushed through several pages of the book, as if it were an omen of some sort. Finally, the flipping of pages came to rest half way through the book, where a felt-colored picture was drawn, one that looked like the creatures that were standing on the shoreline now. At the top of the page, "Death Knight" was written in big, bold letters. "They myth..." Billy uttered, attracting the attention of his friends... "it's real..."   
  
...to be continued!  
  
  



End file.
